Jee+Hoy || Wedding

This weekend I attended Jee and Hoy’s wedding.  It was a special event shared by their families and friends.  Some of the highlights included fro-yo from Sweetgreen during the reception that had the Kim Special consisting of yogurt, strawberries, fruity pebbles, and mochi balls.  It was totally awesome and delicious!  There was also a groom’s cake of the hokie bird.  Granted I’m a wahoo and am suppose to despise all hokie fans(since they are our rivals) but I have to admit that the cake was pretty awesome.  Congratulations to Jee and Hoy!

RIP Balz

The University of Virginia emailed today informing me that they tore down my first year dorm so they can rebuild a more state of the art building.  I think every first year needs to experience the extremely hot rooms with the only air flowing from the fan stuck in the window.  At the time it was awful but looking back, it was definitely an experience.

There were some great memories in that dorm with some great friends.   Granted it was always a hike up to this place and definitely not a biker friendly dorm but it was the life of the first year at UVA.  Most days I would have to get off my bike and walk it up because I couldn’t make it up the hill…hahaha.   It’s sad to see it go but I guess all good things must  come to an end.  Here are the pictures UVA sent me and asked if I wanted to pay $200 for a brick from the demolition.

Maui || Travel

The last island we hit was Maui and it was FANTASTIC! As soon as we arrived on Thursday morning, we grabbed some eats at Cafe Kihei, checked into our condo, and then went to the ziplines.  The zipline was pretty exhilerating, 750ft long going 40mph…it was insane.  The instructors “prepared” us for the big zipline by putting us through baby ziplines but they were nothing compared to the grand finale.  The following day we drove all the way around Hana Highway, which we were on for about 10 hours.  That was totally awesome too.  On Saturday, we chilled at the beach and then went to an authentic Hawaiian Luau that had the traditional Hawaiian foods and hula dancers.  On our last full day in Maui, we went snorkeling with sea turtles and then went on an ATV safari.  We tried to go see the sunrise at Haleakala Crater but because of the tropical storm, all we saw at 10,023ft were clouds. It was miserable. I guess I’ll hit it up the next time I’m on the islands.

At Skyline Eco Adventures Zipline

Maui Revealed-  a very helpful book if you ever plan to travel to Maui

Our route of Hana highway…yellow was unpaved 1.5 lane road on the edge of the coast.

Bamboo Forest

Hiking down steep hills with my camera gear = challenging

Cliff Jumping

More waterfalls

Black sand Beach

Lava Tube

7 Pools

Luau

ATV adventure

Haleakala Crater- where we only saw clouds

Big Island || Travel

After a hectic 5 days on Oahu, it was nice to hit up the Big Island where there aren’t as many tourists.  This island is really laid back and chill which was really relaxing. We crusied around the island in our upgraded wrangler, the rubicon.  It was much more roomier than the wrangler and we loved it.  Even though it was raining, we kept the top off and loved the wind in our hair.  Here are some sights we saw on our drive around the island.

The Rubicon with a male model on the hood.

A volcano crater at the Hawaii Volcanoes Park

Hot Lava pouring into the ocean

Cruising on the highway

Hapuna Beach- such soft sand

Waikoloa Beach Course signature hole #7

Oahu || Travel

The first stop on the Hawaiian adventure was Oahu.  This was where the wedding was so we planned around it.  We drove around the whole island looking for different scenic points as well as the hot spots for food.  We had some awesome mochi ice cream, unlimited supply of fresh pineapple, shrimp from a shrimp truck, shaved ice, etc.  Though there are many pictures, I narrowed down to a handful to share.

hiked to the top of Diamond Head

the view was amazing

at Dole Plantation

Honolulu at night

USS Arizona Memorial

Lanikuhonua Cultural Institute

Turtle Bay Resort

Burita arrives and we hang out, UVA roomies renuited

Ko Olina Golf Course

Annie+Linn||Wedding

Annie and Linn had their fairy tale wedding in Hawaii a couple of weeks ago.  They did a superb job in setting everything up from the welcome bags to the linens for the reception tables.  I wish I had captured the wonderful details they spent time on but forgot, shame on me.  The ceremony site was gorgeous with the beach backdrop and the reception hall was an all out party.   During the reception, lots of tears were shed out of happiness for the couple while Linn had many surprises for his new bride.  He did the poster board skit from Love Actually which was followed by him singing Jason Mraz’s Lucky.  It was definitely heartfelt throughout the room.  Just thinking about it gives me the chills.  I think I can safely say that every single person at their wedding had a fabulous time.

Aside from celebrating their wedding day, I also got to meet my photography idol at this wedding, Ben Chrisman.  It was awesome watching him and Erin work their magic during the wedding day. I was able to get a picture with him at the end of the night and hope to run into him again sometime soon.

CONGRATS to Linn and Annie!! Thanks for having such a fantastic wedding and inviting me to it!

Hang Ten

Sorry I haven’t posted anything in the past 2 weeks, I’ve been on holiday in Hawaii. I meant to update while I was there but the lack of internet connection and time prevented me from doing so.  Now that I’m back on the east coast, I will have a few updates on my adventures on Oahu, Big Island, and Maui.

Here is the first post. We got to go surfing in Waikiki and learned from the best, Dane Kealoha, who is a former Pro surfer and legendary Hawaiian Pipe Masters Champion. He knows his stuff and teaches it well. So if you’re ever in Waikiki, look him up at Hyatt Regency Surf Academy .  Here are some pictures from the surfing adventure courtesy of Walker Langley.  He used the canon 40d and wide angle lens in a waterproof casing so he was right in the water taking pictures, how cool is that. I was able to catch some waves but not before I wiped a few times.   Below is our group picture before we hit the water.

Hello Dakota!||Newborn

Yesterday I visited Dakota and her parents for a quick photo shoot.   Dakota is 20 days old and is one amazing baby.  During my time there I witnessed how much this little baby ate(like a champ!), how she was calmed by the sound of only country music, and how she randomly smiles in her sleep.  It was great to see Hanna and Rathna interact with their little bundle of joy. Daddy made sure his little girl’s hair looked good and gave her a nice brush through before we started.  It was SO CUTE!

Jason+Debbie||Wedding

Jason and Debbie had their wedding last month.  It was amazing to witness this event because I knew them when they got together back in high school.  It only seemed like the other day we were all hanging out at track practice.  It was a joyous and beautiful day for families and friends to celebrate this official union.   Congratulations to Jason and Debbie! To many more years of laughter together!

AT&T Golf on the 4th

I went back to the AT&T Golf Tournament on the 4th with my parents, who are avid fans of the sport.  It was definitely another exciting day of golf throughout the round where the lead changes were constant.  The atmosphere was more intense than during the Pro-Am on Wednesday.  Every golfer was focused on lowering their score for the W.   Some images from the day: